good crashes today

[deanbar]

dog runs through the Tour deFrance stage race..then about 3 successive crashes at the end of the stage...if you want to watch - versus 603 on Directv.

yesterday - broken jaw / shouldblade and a femur

Who says these guys are not athletes !?!?

 

[jacksonreb1]

may very well be the best conditioned athletes on the planet. no sporting event IMO is more grueling and demanding than the tour de france. to say they are not athletes IMO is just nuts.

 

[JimC1097]

They are damn good athletes. I think the doping scandals have hurt their image. They certainly are better athletes than hot dog eaters, poker players and race car drivers, that is for certain. High level soccer players may give them a run for "best" athletes, especially when they are running up and down that 120 yard field (or however long) like it is a basketball court. But riding 120+ miles a day for a couple of weeks some in steep mountains is STRONG.

 

[KurtRambis4]

no sporting event IMO is more grueling and demanding than the tour de france.

that they are very grueling and demanding, but as far as endurance sports go, it's hands down ironman competitions.

 

[seshomoru]

no sporting event IMO is more grueling and demanding than the tour de france.

that they are very grueling and demanding, but as far as endurance sports go, it's hands down ironman competitions.

Primarily based on who can actually complete Ironman races. Have you seen some of the people coming in towards the end of the time limit? If you know how to swim, anyone can spend six months training and finish an Ironman. Of course, doing it well is another story, and people like Alexander and Wellington are in a class by themselves, and the ITU racers are incredible as well (I actually like the ITU/Olympic stuff better). The case can be made that they are more well rounded, but I wouldn't bet a dime on them being able to finish the Tour, even if there were no time requirements. The climbs in the Tour keep even professional cyclists from finishing.

So as for pure test of endurance and pain threshold, nothing beats the Tour. Ironman is just one day of gutting it out. Now don't get me wrong. It's impressive, and so is anyone who puts in the time to train for, and complete one, but it's really all about time management and just getting your *** on the bike and running a lot. The Tour is just an entirely different level of testing what a person can go through.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

Race Across America

Basically, you cycle across the USA with minimal stops. The winners typically do it in about 9-10 days, but the pace is much slower than the Tour.

That said, the Tour is probably the hardest event. It attracts the best cyclists and they go at it for 20 days within a ~25 day period. The top Ironman finishers typically take about 8 hours. A single Tour stage can take 4 or more hours, and you have to do it day after day.

 

[Dawgzilla]

Tour Divide mountain bike race from Banff to Antelope Wells, NM. over 2700 miles, and over 200,000 feet of climbing on a mostly unmarked trail. Totally unsupported, no GPS allowed. Winners take over 18 days.

But, such an event does not really attract the World's best athletes. There is an exclusive club of idiots who do these solo ultra-endurance events. While they are strong athletes and in tremendous condition, I do wonder what would happen if Tour level cyclists started riding in these things.

 

[elsid76]

what gets me is that the dog crashes are not some random dog in a neighborhood, they typically belong to some idiot
who brought the dog to the race and then did not properly control the animal. As a cyclist you expect to have dogs
run out (at PT just this morning from dog crash) on training rides and even some unmonitored race courses but at the level
of international pro cycling you expect NOT to have to deal with dogs from the spectators.

 

[seshomoru]

Frank Schleck out. Vande Velde didn't even start. Think I read he lacerated his eye lid along with some broken ribs. I'm about 100% sure I never want to know the feeling of lacerating my eyelid.

The cobble stones ate some people alive today, broke up the peleton, and popped a few tires. Lance had a hell of a solo ride to stay close to Contador, and Andy Shcleck got some help from Cancellara to take some time.